Forex news from the European trading session - 26 April 2021
Headlines:
- OPEC joint technical committee reportedly express concerns on India virus spread
- German govt reportedly to raise 2021 GDP growth expectations from 3.0% to 3.5%
- Germany April Ifo business climate index 96.8 vs 97.8 expected
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 23 April CHF 701.7 bn vs CHF 701.5 bn prior
- Bitcoin comes up for air in push back above $52,000
- Germany reports 11,907 new coronavirus cases, 60 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields up 3.5 bps to 1.593%
- Gold down 0.1% to $1,775.08
- WTI down 1.3% to $61.30
- Bitcoin up 11.4% to $53,645
It was a relatively quiet session as the market treaded with caution in anticipation of a key risk events still to follow later in the week.
The dollar kept mildly weaker but recovered some ground against the euro late on with EUR/USD easing from 1.2100 to 1.2085, with key resistance trendline at 1.2119 still holding any major upside break at bay for the time being.
USD/JPY held lower at around 107.70-80 before pushing up to 108.00 as Treasury yields start to move to the highs for the day, with 10-year yields up to 1.59%.
Commodity currencies fared better against the greenback with AUD/USD extending a push towards 0.7800 while USD/CAD tracked lower to 1.2440 levels as sellers finally push through daily support at 1.2476-00 since Friday trading last week.
Elsewhere, US futures are more guarded despite the gains at the end of last week with S&P 500 futures down 0.1%, Nasdaq futures down 0.3%, while Dow futures are up 0.1%.
US durable goods orders later today will kick off a big week in terms of event risks as the market will have to navigate through PCE inflation data (Friday), the FOMC meeting (Wednesday), OPEC+ meeting (Wednesday), and a heavy slate of key earnings releases (big tech) over the course of the next few days.
